The falling sensation lasted only a minute and ended abruptly when she landed hard on her knees. Grunting, she sat down and stretched her legs out in front of her, trying to get her knees to stop aching. Paige, you are such a klutz, she silently berated herself. One second, she had been gazing into the mirror in the attic, silently praying for some help, and the next, she was falling, undoubtedly from something as stupid as tripping over her own feet. It wasn't until she opened her eyes and immediately had to squeeze them closed against an incredibly bright light that she began to realize that something had happened to her.

She took a deep breath and held it, then tried to open her eyes again. The second she had them open, a light so bright that it was beginning to give her a headache assaulted her vision. Groaning, she once again squeezed her eyes closed and placed her hands over her face, putting her head down to try to block out the rest of the light. A sea of bright, colored dots were swimming in front of her eyes. She felt as if she'd had her picture taken a number of times with an extremely bright flash bulb. As her thoughts started coming together a little, she started to get a little frightened. How was she supposed to know where she was or what to do if she couldn't open her eyes to see her surroundings?

"Who just entered our circle?" a gruff male voice asked. He definitely sounded like an authority figure and also more than a little annoyed at his circle being invaded my an outsider.

Paige felt someone grasp her arm, trying to pull her up. "Come on, we need to move," a female voice hissed into her ear. "If they catch you, it won't be pretty."

Her heart was pounding as she allowed the woman to tug her in the direction opposite the intense brightness. What was going on? Who was that man, and why was this woman helping her get away? Most importantly, where were they? After a couple of minutes, the woman slowed to a stop, causing Paige to almost run right into her. "Whoa, sorry!" Right away she noticed, even though her eyes were still closed, that it was considerably darker than where she just was.

"It's okay," the woman said. Her voice was kind and gentle, and Paige couldn't help but feel drawn to her. "Paige, open your eyes."

Hesitating only a moment when she heard the woman call her by name, she opened her eyes and was surprised to find that it was pitch black. She couldn't see her hand in front of her face, never mind anything else. Turning her head in the direction she came from, she saw a bright beam of light, but the amount of darkness surrounding it made it much more manageable to look at and not so overwhelming. It hit her all of a sudden where she was: Twilight. "How did I get here?"

"I called you here," the woman said, gently taking Paige's hands. "I need you to help me get Mindy away from him."

"I can't see anything," she said, shaking her head. "How can I help you if I can't see?"

"Your eyes'll adjust after a few minutes," she promised. "You won't be able to see in any kind of detail, but you'll be able to make out where people are and things like that."

"So it'll be like wandering around in the middle of the night," Paige sighed. Her eyes were already starting to adjust to the heavy darkness.

"That's exactly right," the woman laughed. She quieted down and seemed to be listening for something. Paige heard it, too: someone saying that they thought they spotted them. "Damn it. They're going to find you if we don't move fast." She tugged Paige's hand, once again prompting Paige to follow her.

"Ugh, this constant running thing is annoying," Paige muttered after the woman slowed to a stop. She put her hands on her knees and leaned forward, trying to catch her breath. "Why do they want me, anyway?"

"You're an outsider, and he's deemed all outsiders dangerous. We're safe here, at least for a little bit. We're in the equivalent of a hidden nook right now." She rested her hand on Paige's shoulder. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I can even see things a little." She looked up at the woman and squinted, trying to make out her features. The only thing she was able to tell was that she and the woman were about the same size. Though she was comfortable with her, she still didn't know who she was or how she knew her name. "Um, excuse the possible rudeness, but who are you?"

She hesitated a moment. "You know that woman Mindy told you about who likes to protect her?" Paige nodded. "Well, that's me. I just figured out the way in here and I tried to get her away from him myself, but he's just too strong. I need someone else she trusts to help me break through his hold on her."

Paige smiled. It made sense now, at least why this woman knew her name. She had been the one to tell Mindy it was okay to trust her in the first place. "How are we going to do that?"

"We have to get her to listen to us. Believe me, it's not as easy as it sounds."

Paige nodded again, gulping, but she tried not to let the woman know how nervous she was. "And once we get her back, you can send us both home, right?"

"Yes," she said with a nod.

"Great!" Paige exclaimed. "What do we have to do first?"

**********

Phoebe stood in the doorway of the sunroom, watching Piper carefully thumb through the Book of Shadows. Her shoulders slumped as she reached the last quarter of the Book. Phoebe could tell just by the look on her sister's face that she hadn't found anything remotely helpful. Clearing her throat, she entered the room and handed Piper a cup of tea. "Here," she said gently. "I thought you'd want some." She sat down next to Piper and set her own cup on the coffee table, gazing down at the Book.

"Thanks." She took a sip and set the cup down as well. She flipped a couple more pages, then sighed heavily, putting her head in her hands. "Phoebe, I can't do this again," she muttered, her voice muffled by her hands.

Phoebe glanced over at Piper and wrapped her arm around her in a comforting sideways hug. "Do what again?"

Piper looked up at her, tears glistening in her eyes. "I can't lose another sister. I-I know we've only known her for a year, but . . ." She trailed off, shaking her head as she choked on her tears. "I-I know I don't show it a lot and I don't think I've ever told her, but I love her, Phoebe, and I can't imagine life without her now."

"And we won't have to," Phoebe assured her. "She's going to be fine."

"Phoebe, three hours ago, I was trying to tell her there was nothing we could do, so why am I supposed to believe now that she's going to be fine?"

"Because we understand how it works," she answered gently. "She had to be called by someone on the inside, right? So, it's safe to assume that she was pulled in by someone trying to help Mindy."

"Why is it safe to assume that?" Piper asked, sniffling. "Maybe he's the one who pulled her in there. I mean, maybe he realized that Mindy, his distraction, isn't going to last much longer and he needed someone who could, so he grabbed Paige. And then when Paige starts fading, he'll take someone else and so on for eternity. If he took a little girl to use as a distraction just to keep his cult from breaking up, there's no reason to believe he won't replace her when she's useless to him."

Phoebe brushed Piper's hair out of her eyes. "He wouldn't have taken Paige to help him. She wouldn't help him, and he knows that. The only thing that makes sense is that she was taken by someone trying to help Mindy. Maybe it's even that woman who protects Mindy, and she needed Paige's help, for whatever reason. Once they get Mindy back, she'll be able to send them both home."

Piper shook her head and closed her eyes. "You're banking a lot on everything working out exactly the way you want it to, and when in our lives has that ever happened?"

Phoebe bit her lip, unsure of what to say to her sister. She hated seeing Piper so upset, and she knew beyond a doubt that all this had thrown Piper back to when Prue died. Piper had barely survived it. Losing Paige would be the last straw for her, and Phoebe didn't know how to comfort her. "Honey, it's going to be all right."

She looked up at Phoebe, finally allowing her tears to slide down her cheeks. "How can you be so sure?"

Phoebe pulled Piper close to her and just held her tightly, stroking her hair. "I have to be."

Piper quietly began sobbing into Phoebe's shoulder. "I wish I could be as sure as you are."